Farewell Captain

Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart, passed away today at a Northern California hospital at the age of 69.
The cause of death was named as complications from multiple sclerosis.

Van Vliet's musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians he called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12 studio albums.

Noted for his powerful singing voice with its wide range, Van Vliet also played the harmonica, saxophone and numerous other wind instruments.
His music blended rock, blues and psychedelia with free jazz, avant-garde and contemporary experimental composition.
During his teen years in Lancaster, California, Van Vliet acquired an eclectic musical taste and formed "a mutually useful but volatile" friendship with Frank Zappa, with whom he sporadically competed and collaborated.
Known for his enigmatic personality and relationship with the public, Van Vliet made few public appearances after his retirement from music (and from his Beefheart persona) in 1982 to pursue a career in art, an interest that originated in his childhood talent for sculpture.








RIP Captain Beefheart.

Happy Halloween!

Hob-noblin
Wit de goblin
De Goblin Girl
From da mystery world

Hob-noblin
Wit de goblin
She's black 'n green
'Cause it's Halloween

Raggedy black
Is the way she dress
Little green shoes
'N her hair's a mess
On Halloween night
At de costume ball
She's a Goblin Girl
An' she can gobble it all

She's a goblin
A Goblin Girl
She's a goblin
A Goblin Girl
I been hobblin'
'Cause of the Goblin
Goblin Girl . . . Goblin Girl

Some girls like
To dress like a witch
Some girls like to dress like a queen
Best way a girl
Can dress for me
Is in a Goblin Suit
(They look so cute . . . )

When they're a goblin
There ain't a problin
When they're a goblin
I start a-wobblin'
Pink all over
Some is tan
Goblin Girls
From every land
They look good
From any which-a-way
Every Halloween
You can hear me say:
"Goblin Girl, take it away . . . "

Hob-noblin
Wit de goblin
De Goblin Girl
From da mystery world
De Goblin Girl
From da mystery world
(TRICK OR TREAT NOW . . . )
De Goblin Girl
From da mystery world
(TRICK OR TREAT NOW . . . )
De Goblin Girl

From da mystery world

"What's New In Baltimore?"

SEPTEMBER 19 WILL BE DECLARED "FRANK ZAPPA DAY" IN BALTIMORE

Frank Zappa statue to be dedicated on Sunday, September 19 at the Southeast Anchor Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library located at 3601 Eastern Avenue.
September 19, 2010 marks the 25th anniversary of Zappa's testimony on Capitol Hill and at Annapolis against the censorship of free expression by artists.



The sculpture is a gift to the city of Baltimore orchestrated by three guys from Lithuania: Saulius Paukstys, Saulius Pilinkus and Arturas Baublys. It is a replica of the bust of Frank Zappa installed in Vilnius (pictured here), created by artist Konstantinas Bogdanas. The gift and location were approved by the Baltimore City Public Art Commission and sanctioned by the family.
Zappa's son Dweezil Zappa will headline a special concert with his Grammy Award-winning band, Zappa Plays Zappa. The stretch of Eastern Avenue between Conkling and Eaton Streets in the heart of the Highlandtown Arts and Entertainment District will be marked 'Frank Zappa Way' with a ceremonial street sign to be unveiled for the dedication. The events, including the outdoor dedication and concerts, are open to the public at no charge.



Legendary musician and composer Frank Zappa was born in Baltimore in 1940 and passed away in 1993, at home in Los Angeles. He is internationally recognized as one of the most innovative composers and musicians of the 20th century with a career spanning more than 30 years.


"What's New In Baltimore?"

Mike & Bryan

An amazing acoustic cover of Frank Zappa's "Inca Roads" by Mike Keneally and Bryan Beller. Mike toured as part of Frank's 1988 band.

Watermelon In Easter Hay

Frank Zappa - May 17, 1988, Barcelona, Spain



Quite possibly THE most beautiful guitar piece ever written.

"Journalism's kinda scary - and of it we should be wary"

M.C. and I have discussed, at length, the role that the mainstream media has played in leading our nation into its current predicament.
Below is a lyric fragment from a Frank Zappa song, which sums up his (similar) thoughts on journalists.

"... Oh no, you gotta go

Who do you write for?
I wanna know
I believe you is the government's whore
And keeping peoples dumb
Is where you're coming from..."

Excerpted from "Packard Goose".

"Way Out West"

On 1966's Way Out West, legendary entertainer Mae West rocks and rolls to an especially selected repertoire of the latest rock'n'roll hits (The Beatles, The Guess Who and Percy Sledge among others.), backed by the dynamic young group Somebody's Chyldren (creating energetic, raw garage rock raveups).

Her voice is torrid. Her beat is sensational. Her rhythm is like no other rhythm in the business. When she sings these emotional lyrics, they take on deep and feelingful meaning.(from the album's liner notes)
I discovered this gem over at WFMU's Beware of the Blog - a must-visit for music fans.

Listen to the whole album here.

Track Listings:

Treat Him Right

When a Man Loves a Woman

You Turn Me On

Shakin All Over

If You Gotta Go

Lover, Please Don't Fight

Day Tripper

Nervous

Twist and Shout

Boom Boom

Mae Day

(download album here)

The album is quite campy, and perhaps a bit cheesy, but not so much as Burt Ward's 1966 single

Boy Wonder I Love You, a children's record released at the height of Batmania.
It features Burt reading "fan letters" over the musical backing of...The Mothers of Invention. Frank Zappa even wrote and arranged the song, as well as conducting what would come to be known as The Boy Wonder Sessions.




But wait! There's more.

I've saved the best for last.
In 1966, a toy company in Newark, New Jersey released a children's record called Batman and Robin to cash in on the popular t.v. series.
The music on the LP was credited to "The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale," but in fact the band was one of the greatest uncredited session combos of all time, including the core of Sun Ra's Arkestra and Al Kooper's Blues Project.
All the tracks were based on public domain items like Chopin's Polonaise Op. 53, the horn theme from Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and the love theme from Romeo and Juliet, and generic rock riffs.

Love Is All You Need?

In 1967, The Beatles told us "All You Need Is Love".
American composer and musician Frank Zappa recorded the following song, as a reply.

Oh no
I don't believe it
You say that you think you know
The meaning of love
You say love is all we need
You say
With your love you can change
All of the fools
All of the hate
I think you're probably
Out to lunch

Oh no
I don't believe it
You say that you think you know
The meaning of love
Do you really think it can be told?
You say that you really know
I think
You should check it again
How can you say
What you believe
Will be the key to a
World of love?

All your love -
Will it save me?
All your love -
Will it save the world
From what we can't understand
Oh no
I don't believe it

Happy Birthday Nez!

Former Monkee, Michael Nesmith is 66 today.
Nesmith is best known for his role in the made-for-TV pop-rock band The Monkees.
Nesmith has done his most notable—though widely unrecognized—work since The Monkees disbanded in 1970. Among his groundbreaking achievements, he tinged rock music with some of his native Texas flavor and created a style that has come to be known as alt-country, won the first Grammy for Video of the Year in 1981, and created one of the first companies to distribute movies and TV programs on home video. But perhaps most significantly, Nesmith pioneered the TV music-video format that eventually became MTV.

"A composer is a guy who goes around forcing his will on unsuspecting air molecules, often with the assistance of unsuspecting musicians. "

Frank Zappa, iconoclastic singer, composer, artist, electric guitarist, record producer, and film director, was born on this date 68 years ago.

Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist and he gained widespread critical acclaim. Many of his albums are considered essential in rock history, and he is regarded as one of the most original guitarists and composers of his time; he remains a major influence on musicians and composers. He had some commercial success, particularly in Europe, and was for most of his career able to work as an independent artist. Zappa was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.
Zappa grew up influenced by avant-garde composers such as Varèse, Igor Stravinsky and Anton Webern, R&B and doo-wop groups.He frequently lampooned musical fads like psychedelia, rock opera and disco.


Most of Zappa's projects came to a halt in 1990, when he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. The disease had been developing unnoticed for ten years and was considered inoperable.
Frank Zappa died on Saturday, December 4, 1993 in his home surrounded by his wife and children. At a private ceremony the following day, Zappa was interred in an unmarked grave at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, Los Angeles.

Watch Frank Zappa On Crossfire, 1986-03-28

The "Indian Of The Group" Has Gone To The Happy Hunting Ground

Former Frank Zappa Drummer Jimmy Carl Black has Passed Away.



Jimmy Carl Black, the original drummer for Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, passed away this past weekend after a bout with lung cancer. He was 70.
Black, the self-proclaimed “Indian of the group", served with the Mothers from their acclaimed 1966 debut Freak Out! (a sneering farce about rock music and America as a whole) until Zappa’s 1970 album Weasels Ripped My Flesh.
Black also played a noticeable role in the Zappa film 200 Motels, where he sang “Lonesome Cowboy Burt”.

In his post-Mothers career, Black played in several bands, including a stint with Captain Beefheart, Geronimo Black (which Black fronted) and the Zappa tribute bands like the Grandmothers and the Muffin Men.
Jimmy passed away peacefully Saturday (11/01/08).

A benefit for Black will be held November 9th at the Bridgehouse II in London.

Watermelon In Easter Hay (Joe's Last Imaginary Guitar Solo)